Nebraska Volleyball

[tfree32]

Great game today, but a disappointing five set loss. Lots of potential this year, but the star caliber players are still young and the older players are frankly a bit disappointing. I think it's a rebuilding year and in a year or two they'll be really good. Broekhuis in particular looks like she could wind up being an amazing player in a year or two.

[HuskersNC949597]

I don't think it's a rebuilding year, they're ranked 2nd and coach Cook said he felt last year they were overrated at the beginning of last season but are ranked properly this year.  They made a number of unforced errors, and that Murphy for Florida played well.  I doubt if they had it to play over again that they would make so many errors down the stretch of the 5th set.

[tfree32]

I don't think it's a rebuilding year, they're ranked 2nd and coach Cook said he felt last year they were overrated at the beginning of last season but are ranked properly this year.  They made a number of unforced errors, and that Murphy for Florida played well.  I doubt if they had it to play over again that they would make so many errors down the stretch of the 5th set.

I think it just depends on your perspective. I consider it a rebuilding year because I don't expect to compete for a national title. I think we get into the tournament, play well, and have a good shot to make it to the final 8 or 16. That's a great year for most schools, but more of a rebuilding year for us.

[HuskerFan2002]

Boy I dunno if I'd ever consider a John Cook led team having a rebuilding year, though.

[Husker Runner]

Wow, in NO WAY is this a rebuilding year for the Huskers.  If John Cook truly felt that way he probably would have redshirted Lauren Cook and let Sydney Anderson run a 5-1 in her senior year.  Nebraska is fully capable of contending for a national championship this season, in fact I'd say they are one of the favorites right now, in spite of the loss to Florida.  There are no clearly dominant teams like we have had the past couple of seasons--Penn State lost Megan Hodge and Alicia Glass to graduation (both are now on the National Team) and Darcy Dorton may be out for the year due to injury.  Penn State is deep with talent but they will not be undefeated.  Texas lost Destinee Hooker and Ashley Engle to graduation and Bailey Webster is out for the season with injury.  Again they have a lot of talent but they will take a step back as well.  

Nebraska has four seniors starting in Kayla Banwarth (one of the top liberos in the country), Sydney Anderson (All-American setter), Tara Mueller (streaky but can be great), and Lindsey Licht (who I think will have a monster season in this system).  The Huskers will have a few bumps in the road as they work out the kinks in the 6-2 offense, but should be in top form by the end of the season.

Mueller has been inconsistent through the first two matches and honestly I think Mancuso should get a chance to start.  Nebraska looks vulnerable to a strong right side attack, so the outsides are going to need to step up.  That said, Florida's Kelly Murphy is a serious contender for National Player of the Year so she will make lots of teams look vulnerable.

Morgan Broekhuis looks like she will need some time to adjust to the college game but she will be much better by tournament time.  The preseason talk comparing Morgan to Sarah Pavan was a little unfair IMHO, that's too much to put on a freshman, but she is going to be a great player.  Allison McNeal will also improve at MB as the season goes on.  Anderson has not looked quite as effective as Cook in the first couple of matches but she is also setting to two players new to starting roles.  This is not a Husker team that was going to go undefeated but they should be quite formidable by the tournament.  

Barring some unforeseen chemistry problems within the team, or injuries, Nebraska should be right in the mix of things in the tournament, along with a small handful of other teams (the usual suspects), none of which are clearly better than the Huskers.  The NCAA Tournament will have the semifnals and finals in Kansas City this year, so if Nebraska gets to the Final Four (good chance), the arena will be packed with Husker fans.  

Frankly, if Nebraska doesn't make it at the very least to the Final Four, it will be a huge disappointment.

[HuskersNC949597]

Nebraska got completely hosed by the refs in their loss to Washington.  The Huskers scored set point in the 4th to force a 5th, but the ref gave Washington the point, and basically Nebraska couldn't recover from the shock of such an obviously incorrect call.  Nebraska didn't play great, but there were also a number of "digs" called for Washington that hit the floor, digs by NU called the opposite way, so. . .yeah, John Baylor couldn't believe it, I can't believe it, the Nebraska volleyball team certainly couldn't believe it.  They didn't deserve to have their season ended that way.

[HuskersNC949597]

According to somebody at the game, a UW coach shoved one of NU's after the match  

Confirmed by the LJS

[HuskerBo]

Awful officiating, and bush league actions by their coach. If he truly did shove one of our coaches, then there had better be an apology forthcoming. Shoving another team's coach is much worse than anything Bo has ever done.

[Solly]

The officiating definitely stunk on ice, especially in the fourth set, but Nebraska played like crap for the first set and the first 2/3 of the second.

[tfree32]

Since Pavan's senior year here, the team has seemed like it's not a mentally tough as they need to be. I think as some of the more talented youngsters get more experienced, that will help quite a bit. They have a ton of talent returning and should be quite a bit better next season.

[HuskersNC949597]

They started slow in a lot of matches this year, it became a sort of M.O.  Also, it's difficult to say how badly they played when a number of kills were incorrectly ruled digs for Washington.  UW will be in Nebraska for the AVCA tourney next season, should be. . .interesting.